STATUS
IN CONSTRUCTION
CLIENT
City of New York | NYC Department of Design & Construction
TYPOLOGY
Urbanism
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The East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project emerged from the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Rebuild by Design competition, which sought to develop innovative design solutions to increase the resiliency of Sandy-impacted communities.
The 2.5 mile project area is located within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 100-year floodplain and spans from Montgomery Street to East 25th Street. The ESCR project is designed to protect and improve the resiliency of the large and diverse residential community of more than 110,000 New Yorkers, including approximately 28,000 NYCHA residents. ESCR will also offer protection to critical infrastructure – including a major pump station and an electrical substation that powers much of Lower Manhattan – as well as numerous local schools and libraries.
In 2024, NYC Mayor Adams announced the completion of the first section of ESCR, between East 15th St. and the Asser Levy Playground, with flood barrier walls and gates, a new dog run, ballfields, and other public amenities.
In order to make the case for the protection of Lower Manhattan, the BIG team undertook extensive quantitative and qualitative analysis – demonstrating impacts by Hurricane Sandy, and outlining future risks to life, property, and economic activity.
Working with the city, BIG identified Manhattan’s East side as a priority area which is home to more than 110,000 low-income residents living in one of the largest reservoirs of public housing in the city.
In addition, the area is home to multiple critical public assets including the country’s economic epicenter; one of its most significant historic districts, the South Street Seaport and extensive transportation infrastructure.
Over the course of the concept design, the BIG team held 11 public workshops and 40+ smaller stakeholder sessions, with more than 1,000 participants from the community and surrounding neighborhoods providing input. Taken together, the ESCR project builds physical, social, and economic resiliency, strengthening the City’s coastline while reestablishing public space, enabling outdoor gathering opportunities, and improving waterfront accessibility.
At East River Park, a system of “bridging berms” between the FDR Drive and the park will help protect the neighborhood from future storm surge and rising sea levels while reimagining access and pedestrian bridges into the park, supporting diverse new plantings, enhancing views into the park, and creating better open spaces along the waterfront.
Delancey Street Bridge-20240609-DSC08816
Delancey Street Bridge-20240609-DSC08870
At Stuyvesant Cove, elevated open spaces will work together with a new ferry landing, cultural facilities, and kayaking amenities to create a vibrant waterfront. The use of deployable elements will maintain views and access to the water at critical locations, ensuring continued connections between the neighborhood and its waterfront.
Andreas Buettner Ania Agnieszka Podlaszewska Beat Schenk Benjamin Caldwell Bjarke Ingels Daniel Sundlin Douglass Alligood Isela Liu Jakub Kulisa Jeremy Alain Siegel Juan Diego Perez Diez Kai-Uwe Bergmann Lisbet Fritze Trentemøller Margaret Tyrpa Nasiq Khan Oliver Siekierka Sang Ha Jung Stephanie Hui Thomas Christoffersen Thomas McMurtrie Veronica Acosta Adam Poole Agnieszka Majkowska Andreea Vasile Hoxha Aslan Taheri Athena Morella Autumn Visconti Benjamin Dinapoli Chao-Wei Chiang Daniele Pronesti Deb Campbell Douglas Breuer Emily Bauer Emmett Walker Erik Kreider Fiona Lu Gabriel Hernandez Solano Gaurav Sardana Guillaume Evain James Donaldson Jamie Maslyn Larson Jessica Jiang John Sng Jonathan Hein Jonathan Ong Jordan Felber Juan David Ramirez Kalina Pilat Kam Chi Cheng Karolina Bouros Kate Cella Kayeon Lee Kelly Neill Kurt Nieminen Mai Lee Malcolm Rondell Galang Manon Otto Margaret Kim Mateusz Wieckowski-Gawron Max Moriyama Maxime Le Droupeet Mo Li Morgan Mangelsen Nandi Lu Nicholas Potts Nicole Passarella Ruicong Tang Seo Young Shin Simon David Tammy Teng Taylor Burgess Taylor Fulton Taylor Hewett Terrence Chew Tracy Sodder Vincenzo Polsinelli Wells Barber William Campion Yaziel Juarbe Yixin Li Ziyu Guo
COLLABORATORS
AKRF Engineers
Arcadis
JACOBS
MNLA
Hardesty Hanover
Siteworks
Wesler Cohen
Hazen & Sawyer
ONE Architecture
Pentagram
